Compatible broadcast downlink and unicast uplink interference reduction for a wireless communication system

• US 20070054625A1
• Filed: 08/23/2005
• Published: 03/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Holding 81 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: IPWireless Inc. (General Dynamics Corporation)
• Inventors: Beale, Martin
• Granted Patent: US 8,098,621 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/69
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/1268 of uplink data flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/542 using measured or perceived quality
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Embodiments of the current invention reduce interference from a mobile station (UE) uplink transmission to a received broadcast downlink transmission through a network-based scheduling of time-slotted downlink broadcast transmissions, so that they do not occur concurrently with uplink transmissions. The invention allows low cost, low power UEs to be designed and built by use of the following techniques: (i) downlink broadcast transmissions are time-slotted; (ii) UEs operate either in half-duplex mode for transmission and reception of unicast services, or in full duplex mode where additional bandpass or additional highpass filtering can be applied to the DL unicast carrier; (iii) when unicast services are active for a UE, the UE informs the network of the broadcast services that are being decoded; and (iv) the network schedules unicast transmissions, broadcast transmissions, or both unicast and broadcast transmissions such that the uplink unicast transmission to a UE is never time-coincident with the broadcast transmissions to that UE.

Claims

1. A method for a base station to reduce uplink, unicast transmission interference from at least one mobile station transmission to the reception of at least one downlink, broadcast transmission, comprising:

assigning at least one time period to the at least one downlink broadcast transmission;

receiving information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission as decoded by the mobile station, from the mobile station; and

scheduling the at least one, uplink, unicast transmission for transmission by the mobile station so that the at least one uplink, unicast transmission of the mobile station is never concurrent with the at least one downlink broadcast transmission that the mobile station is decoding.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one unicast transmission is given priority over the at least one broadcast transmission for scheduling.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one broadcast transmission is given priority over the at least one unicast transmission for scheduling.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving information relating to changes in status of the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission being decoded by the mobile station, from the mobile station.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission that the mobile station is decoding comprises identifiers for the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission that the mobile station is decoding comprises time period indicia for the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one unicast transmission transmitted by the base station is half duplex.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one unicast transmission transmitted by the base station is full duplex.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile station comprises a full duplex mobile station, and wherein the base station does not schedule the at least one uplink unicast transmission to be transmitted by the mobile station, when it is transmitting the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission to the mobile station.

10. The method of claim 1 in which the base station schedules transmissions, based at least in part on at least one of (i) broadcast reception status of the mobile stations, (ii) fairness, (iii) channel quality, (iv) estimated incremental interference in neighbor cells, or (v) buffer volume.

11. A method for a mobile station to reduce uplink, unicast transmission interference from at least one mobile station transmission to the reception of at least one downlink, broadcast transmission, comprising:

receiving the at least one downlink broadcast transmission in an at least one assigned time period;

transmitting information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission as decoded; and

receiving the at least one scheduled downlink, broadcast transmission from the base station such that the at least one uplink, unicast transmission of the mobile station is never concurrent with the at least one downlink broadcast transmission.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one unicast transmission is given priority over the at least one broadcast transmission for scheduling.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one broadcast transmission is given priority over the at least one unicast transmission for scheduling.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting information relating to changes in status of the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission being decoded by the mobile station, from the mobile station.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission that the mobile station is decoding comprises identifiers for the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission that the mobile station is decoding comprises time period indicia for the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one unicast transmission transmitted by the mobile station is half duplex.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one unicast transmission transmitted by the mobile station is full duplex.

19. A base station to reduce uplink, unicast transmission interference from at least one mobile station transmission to the reception of at least one downlink, broadcast transmission, comprising:

means for assigning at least one time period to the at least one downlink broadcast transmission;

means for receiving information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission as decoded by the mobile station, from the mobile station; and

means for scheduling the at least one, uplink, unicast transmission for transmission by the mobile station so that the at least one uplink, unicast transmission of the mobile station is never concurrent with the at least one downlink broadcast transmission that the mobile station is decoding.

20. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for a base station to reduce uplink, unicast transmission interference from at least one mobile station transmission to the reception of at least one downlink, broadcast transmission, comprising:

assigning at least one time period to the at least one downlink broadcast transmission;

receiving information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission as decoded by the mobile station, from the mobile station; and

scheduling the at least one, uplink, unicast transmission for transmission by the mobile station so that the at least one uplink, unicast transmission of the mobile station is never concurrent with the at least one downlink broadcast transmission that the mobile station is decoding.

21. A mobile station to reduce interference from an at least one uplink, unicast transmission to the reception of at least one downlink, broadcast transmission, comprising:

means for receiving the at least one downlink broadcast transmission in at least one assigned time period;

means transmitting information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission as decoded; and

means receiving the at least one scheduled downlink, broadcast transmission from the base station such that the at least one uplink, unicast transmission of the mobile station is never concurrent with the at least one downlink broadcast transmission.

22. A computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for a mobile station to reduce interference from at least one uplink, unicast transmission to the reception of at least one downlink, broadcast transmission, comprising:

receiving the at least one downlink broadcast transmission in at least one assigned time period;

transmitting information relating to the at least one downlink, broadcast transmission as decoded; and

receiving the at least one scheduled downlink, broadcast transmission from the base station such that the at least one uplink, unicast transmission of the mobile station is never concurrent with the at least one downlink broadcast transmission.